iPhone Was "Bet the Company" Risk for Apple, Exec Says

We all know the iPhone is a successful product now, but at one point Apple was actually betting its future on the success of the device. Back in 2007, when the iPhone first launched, Apple was still best known for its Mac computers and super popular iPods, but who knew the company was about to change the smartphone industry forever? In recent remarks made by Apple's marketing head Phil Schiller during the ongoing Apple v. Samsung retrial, we see some insight into the bets Apple was willing to make on the iPhone.

"There were huge risks," Schiller said, according to CNET. "We had a saying inside the company that it was a 'bet the company' product. We were starting to do well again in iPod. Then here we're going to invest all these resources, financial as well as people, in creating a product." At the time, Apple had about 100 people working on the iPhone team and, and Schiller also brought up the fact again that development of the iPad began beforethe iPhone.

Schiller's statements were made during the most recent trial between Apple and Samsung, which is addressing how much exactly Samsung owes Apple in damages. Apple originally won just over $1 billion in damages, though the judge presiding over the case knocked off more than $400 million before this retrial.